Prizefight: Apple iPhone 5 vs. Samsung Galaxy S3

Prizefight: Apple iPhone 5 vs. Samsung Galaxy S3

7:14 /
September 25, 2012

It's the battle you've been waiting for between the iPhone 5 and the Galaxy S3 before the Jelly Bean update. How does the cream of the crop match up? Let's get it on!

-What's up Prizefight fans?
I'm Brian Tong and this is the Prizefight you've all been waiting for.
It's a battle between two of the heaviest hitters in the Smartphone world.
It's a Prizefight punch-out between Apple's iPhone 5 and Samsung's Galaxy S3 before the Jelly Bean update.
Our judges for this fight are senior editor Jessica "Duke it Out" Dolcourt, senior editor Scott "The Bottom Line" Stein, and
myself "All Night Long" Tong.
Now, we'll take all three judges' scores and average them out to the nearest 10th each round.
The final Prizefight score will be an average of all rounds using the same system.
Let's get this five-round throw-down started.
Round one is design.
Apple brings its unmatched level of design and attention to detail with the most highly crafted iPhone to date.
Its 4-inch retina display is still a beauty with 326 pixels per inch, a super bright display, and this two-tone design is thinner and lighter than the Galaxy S3.
You might scuff at its 4-inch screen because it's commonplace now, but we haven't seen one in such a small footprint before.
Now, Samsung's Galaxy S3 brings a sleek and silky body with its amazing 4.8-inch Super AMOLED display with 306 pixels per inch that completely dwarfs the iPhone 5 in size.
It still has a slightly dimmer screen even with the brightness turned all the way up and it still has this plasticky feel, but this is the easiest big screen Smartphone I've held on the market today.
These phones both look amazing, but the iPhone 5 just gets the edge with a perfect 5 and the Galaxy S3 gets a 4.7.
Next round is user interface and controls.
Apple brings the same snappy, intuitive interface in iOS 6 with the mostly manual-free experience that's easy as apple pie.
Now, you have the notifications pull-down menu and the whole bun has multiple functions like seeing your currently opened apps or accessing Siri, but Apple still refuses to give us quick access to utilities
or any real customization and it sticks out like a sore thumb.
Now, Samsung brings a much more tamed down version of its TouchWiz interface that's less intrusive and we like it.
Its physical bun has multiple functions to bring you back to the home screen, view your current opened apps or activate its S-voice feature.
You'll still have the same customization for all its widgets, a notifications pull down with quick access to settings, and a birds eye-view of your home screens, but it still feels a little dated and we can't wait for Jelly Bean makeover.
The iPhone 5 takes another round with a 4.3 and Samsung gets a 3.7.
So, after averaging two rounds, Apple leads by half a point.
Next round is features.
The iPhone 5 finally gets on board with 4G LTE connectivity and brings 16-, 32-, or 64-gig options in black or white.
Its dual-core A6 processor is blazing fast and Siri becomes more useful with sports, movies, and food recommendations, but it still hasn't lived up to the hype.
Maps brings turn-by-turn directions, but it takes a huge step-back with the lack of public transit directions, no Google Street View, and Maps that flat out just aren't as accurate right now.
Now, Passbook has big potential even if it's still early on, but the lack of any NFC on the phone might hold it back.
Now, I've said it over and over, but the Galaxy S3 is flat out a feature freak of nature with 16- or 32-gig options and multiple colors plus you got a microSD memory card expansion slot,
a replaceable battery, and 2-gigs of RAM for a snappy experience.
The S3 has really pushed the envelope when it comes to unique features as well with the ability to transfer data with S-Beam that works pretty seamlessly right out of the gate.
Now, some of the gesture controls might seem a little gimmicky like zooming in to a picture by using the accelerometer, but I'd actually use the mute my phone by placing it face down or taking the screen capture by swiping with my palm.
Plus, being able to make direct calls while texting by bringing the phone to your ear
is really practical.
Now, Samsung's S-voice brings voice commands, but it's really not on the same level as Siri at all.
But its Google Maps app is something you can count on with turn-by-turn public transit options and street view and it's probably one of the features I use the most on my phone.
The Galaxy S3 takes this round with a perfect 5 and the iPhone 5 gets a 4.3.
Next round is web browsing and multimedia.
Both phones shine when it comes to web browsing and multimedia.
The iPhone Safari brings a sweet full-screen mode and texts and images pop on its improved retina display.
You can't ignore Apple's iTunes which brings the most robust library of multimedia that looks great, thanks to that new display, and supports 16 x 9 content natively without letterboxing.
Its 8-megapixel camera brings a snazzy panorama mode and 1080P video support with the ability to take stills while recording video and it still holds its title as the best camera on a mobile phone with its improved low-light performance.
Now, the Galaxy S3 brings flash support in its browser and its 4.8-inch display gives you so much real-estate that web browsing and watching multimedia is a better experience.
Now, the Google Play Store brings a huge library of music and video content and, even if it lacks some of the exclusive iTunes has, it's a legit offering for the Google ecosystem.
The Galaxy S3's 8-megapixel camera is excellent as well and features more shooting modes including a body share shot mode and 1080P video capture as well.
Now, if you want two of the best multimedia phones on planet earth, you're looking at them and we're handing out perfect 5 to both of them.
So after averaging four rounds, the Galaxy S3 trails by only one tenth of point.
The final round that decides it all is performance.
These are two of the fastest phones on the market and benchmark tests support that.
By using both phones in the real world is where you'll feel the zippiest navigation you'll find plus I like saying the word zippy.
Now, both phones with normal use
were able to last us throughout most of the day, but make no mistake, it will still require you to charge them.
Call quality was solid on both phones and 4G LTE performance will vary depending on variables like location and your carrier, but these phones are the cream of the crop of 4G phones and we're calling this round even with a tie at 5. So, let's average out all five rounds and in a Prizefight where Apple jumped ahead early, Samsung chipped away and fought back with three perfect rounds and we end up in a deadlock tie at 4.7 points a piece.
But you know, we can't leave it at that, so let's look at the breakdown and in the throw-down showdown, we go to a hundredths of a point and the iPhone 5 just barely edges out the Samsung Galaxy S3 4.73 to 4.66 and it's your Prizefight winner.
These are two amazing phones and it's impossible for you to go wrong with either one, but this battle is far from over with S3's Jelly Bean update coming soon and you could be sure,
we'll be facing these bad boys off one more time.
I'm Brian Tong.
Thanks for watching and we'll catch you guys next time for another Prizefight.